Chapter 1

My aunt watched me carefully and nodded to a chamberlain, who stepped forward and placed a slender gold circlet in my hands—the King’s token of choice.

“Hazel,” she said gently, her voice carrying through the hall, “give this to the man you wish to marry.”

The King laughed, warm and indulgent.

“Yes. Whomever Hazel favors, I shall grant her hand with my full blessing. Let the realm celebrate.”

The Great Hall was filled with princes, high lords of the council, noble matrons, and the daughters of the most powerful houses in the South.

As a Northern-born princess raised in the Southern court, my marriage was more than a personal matter.

Whoever claimed me would gain an alliance strong enough to tilt the balance of the crown itself.

I descended the steps slowly, the gold circlet cool in my palm.

Polite smiles followed me.

No one doubted my choice.

Everyone knew I had adored Crown Prince Ethan since childhood.

Choosing him was expected.

Ethan, however, did not look pleased. He frowned and shifted back a step.

Among the gathered ladies stood Ava Miller, the daughter of a minor but rising noble house. Tears shimmered in her eyes, trembling but not yet falling.

I moved past the first prince, then the second.

Ethan’s expression hardened into open distaste.

Beside him stood my cousin, Prince Alexander—the Queen’s third son—watching me with a quiet smile.

As our eyes met, something softer flickered there—an almost imperceptible sigh hidden beneath courtly composure, as though he already anticipated the disappointment he believed I was about to choose for myself.

Only that morning he had leaned against the carved mantel in my aunt’s solar, arms folded, studying me with that same mixture of amusement and concern.

“You do have eyes, Hazel. Must you always chase a man who barely looks at you? You could choose my brother instead. With your standing, why beg for indifference?”

He had laughed then, careless and warm.

And yet—

In my previous life, when I was condemned, it was Alexander who rode from the northern border without rest, driving his horses to collapse beneath him.

He arrived too late.

He knelt before my coffin for three days and three nights, refusing food, refusing sleep.

“I failed you,” he had whispered hoarsely. “I should have stopped this marriage, even if it meant defying the crown. I should have saved you.”

I blinked away the memory.

Beside Alexander stood the second prince, composed and detached. His mother had once been the King’s acknowledged mistress, and though he was raised within the palace, he understood the limits of his claim. He neither fought nor schemed. The throne was never truly within his reach.

The hall held its breath as I lifted the circlet.

I stepped toward the princes.

Before I could place it in anyone’s hands, Ethan suddenly strode forward and dropped to one knee.

“Your Majesty,” he said, voice ringing clear through the chamber, “I beg you to release me from this honor. My heart already belongs to another.”

He turned slightly, reaching toward Ava without touching her.

“Lady Ava Miller is the woman I love,” he continued without hesitation.

“Our devotion is neither fleeting nor shallow. No one but her will ever be my wife.”